Rationale:
Once students have a basic knowledge
of reading, they must learn to distinguish between long and short
vowels. In
addition, it is important that they understand correspondences can be
seen in different
ways and in different words. This lesson will review a=/a/ and
introduce a_e=/A/ using instruction, worksheets,
decodable books, and pseudo-words.

Materials: Dry erase board, two
different color dry erase markers, worksheets (one per student), James
and the
Good Day (decodable text, one per child), note cards with the following
pseudo-words: dake, fase, lat , gan nape,
labe, and jave, and dat

Procedure:
1. “Class, we already know that when we see a
alone in a word, it makes the /a/ sound (a=/a/).
Today we are going to find out what happens when there is an a, then a consonant, then an e at
the end of the word (a_e=/A/).

(Write a_e on the board.) When you see this, the
a says its name, /A/. Make sure to
explain to the children that the e is
silent but it helps the a say its
name. For example, (add to what you previously wrote: sam) what does
this
letter say? (point to the ‘s’). Right, /s/. How about this letter?
(Point to
the ‘m’). Yes, /m/. Since there is an e
at the end, what sound will the a make? /A/, very
good. Let’s put it all together now- /s/
/A/ /m/.” Give the children more examples such as: make, fade,
and game.

2. Next, write
some words on the board for students to practice distinguishing between
a=/a/
and a_e=/A/. Begin by writing ‘cam’
on the board and say, “What does this word say? Great, /c/-/a/-
/m/.” Use
a different color marker to add an e
to the end and ask, “What sound will the a make
now? /A/, excellent job. Let’s read the word together.
(Point to each letter as you read) /c/ /A/ /m/.” During
this process keep reminding the
children that the e is silent, it
helps the a say its name. With the
same process practice with more words like: fat/fate, at/ate,
fad/fade, mad/made, can/cane,
plan/plane, etc.

3. Give each
student a worksheet with the following name and pictures: plane,
rake, cane, grass, gate skate, crab, lamp and snake (clip-
art can be found on the internet). Review the names and the pictures
with the
children. “Now I want you to write the correct word under each
picture. “Make
sure you are reading the whole word to make sure the e
is telling the a to say
its name.” “You can also look back at your word bank to make sure you
are
spelling the word correctly.” This activity reinforces the idea that
the e at the end of each word is what makes
the a long vowel sound.

4. Pass out
copies of James and the Good Day Have the students read the
book in pairs.
“Class, I want you to read James and the Good Day with your
partner. If
you have a word that you cannot figure out, raise your hand and I will
come
help you.”

5. For
assessment have each student come to your desk and read note cards with
pseudo-words. Some words you can use include: dake, fase,
lat , gandape, labe, and jave, and dat. This
will review a=/a/ and a_e=/A/ and
assure that each student knows the difference.